


Implacable

by MoonFire1



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Steve Rogers, Canon What Canon, F/M, M/M, Steve Rogers is NOT stupid, Steve is tired of everyone's bullshit, That which does not kill Steve or Tony had better start running, not that it will do any good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-14 12:58:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10536930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonFire1/pseuds/MoonFire1
Summary: A small cell phone buzzed on the floorboard next to the ruined darts. Steve picked it up and scrolled through the conversation, mouth set in a straight, grim line.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [I Hope You Have Unlimited Text Messaging](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6895738) by [Misscar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misscar/pseuds/Misscar). 



> So, Chapter 54 of I Hope You Have Unlimited Text Messaging inspired feelings in me. This is the result. Needless to say, it is not canon in terms of the work by which it was inspired.

_They forget I lied to go to war._

Steve stared dispassionately at the man crumpled in a heap on the passenger seat. Three tranquilizer darts, needles snapped uselessly in half, were dumped on the floorboard in front of him.

Clint would definitely wake up with two glorious shiners. He would also most likely have to have a partial at some point in the future.

Steve remembered to pull his punch, but he didn’t pull it _that_ much.

_They forget I went rogue to search out Bucky. I did not lose emotional control. I did not go on a mindless rampage. Plans were made and executed. That Bucky was rescued and the other POWs liberated was the best of all possible outcomes. I knew what could have happened. I made the choice anyway._

Steve was heartily **_sick_** of purported friends or allies deciding that they could determine what was best for him.

 _Clint_ _blinked blearily up at Steve, a hand pressed to his jaw. “Stev—“_

 _“I am very disturbed how easily it was decided you could remove my personal autonomy because apparently **I can’t be trusted to make good decisions.**_ ” Snapping dart points punctuated his words.

 _One of Clint’s eyes widened. The other was already swelling shut. Steve felt no remorse. “Of all people, I would fucking trust you to know what a **violation**_ _that is.”_ Another (pulled) punch gave Clint a safe alibi. Hands bound, handcuff keys, knives, and darts removed from his person.

A small cell phone buzzed on the floorboard next to the ruined darts. Steve picked it up and scrolled through the conversation, mouth set in a straight, grim line.

His fingers flew across the keyboard. _Liberty is down._ A few more keystrokes gave him more information that many concerned parties just hadn’t seen fit to inform him.

The Serum enhanced his body. Many people failed to recognize how much it had also enhanced his mind. Pretending technological ignorance amused Steve on most days. Utilizing that ignorance provided even more benefits.

Time to find out what else he was either being manipulated into or from. _Hold on, Tony._ His heart clenched but he remained resolute. _They aren’t getting away with this shit._

Whether or not the remnants of SHIELD were at fault for the assassination attempt on his boyfriend remained to be seen but no one would easily gain his trust in the future.

The  electronic conversation was very enlightening – at least to the point that Steve declined to punch Clint _again_ after he woke up.

“You would be doing this were it Laura, your children, or Natasha and you _don’t_ get to deny me the same.”

Clint closed his mouth gingerly.

Steve drove on.

Contrary to popular belief, as a result of his newly acquired intel, he wouldn’t rush to board a plane.

He simply _refused_ to sit still.

//end//


	2. Intrepid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He couldn’t linger for long, but for a few precious moments, he held the man he loved close and listened to his heart beat.

_Should probably thank you for showing me what it would have been like had Peg and I had a chance._

The number was unfamiliar and untraceable. Sharon gritted her teeth in frustration. She briefly considered pretending ignorance within the conversation, but suspected it would go nowhere. Who else would open with a message like that?

Very well then. Time to see where this would lead. She picked up her phone and typed back. _How so?_

_Lies built upon kernels of truth. Every decision made for the **greater good**. Wouldn’t have lasted._

Vague to the untrained, unsuspecting audience. Sharon heard what he was saying, all too well.

“How did he get the drop on Barton?” Maria Hill peered over Sharon’s left shoulder. Melinda May peered over the right.

“It shouldn’t have surprised us.” Sharon replied, not truly answering her question. She clicked her phone shut and stashed it in a pocket.  
  
She’d had her role to play in guarding Steve prior to SHIELD’s implosion. That role had necessitated half truths and outright deception, all in the name of keeping him safe. Nothing questioned until she held a gun to Rumlow's head. The name made her wince mentally. _If I'd shot the bastard then . . ._  
  
She didn’t regret bringing the weapons to Steve's group. They had already talked through the one kiss that had been shared and she doubted regret on that end lingered.

Still, a woman could wonder. And she would wonder no more because the answers received left a hard knot in her gut.

“We have to bring him in.” Melinda pulled out her own phone, only for Sharon to grab it and crush it beneath her booted heel.

“ _We_ are going to do our jobs, which is to fix the clusterfuck that Captain Rogers did NOT start.” If her Aunt Peggy could see her now, Sharon liked to think she would have approved. “We are NOT contributing to the established status quo. We will NOT feed into the accepted narrative any more. Protect Stark. That is your assignment. Hill and I have work to do.”

~             ~             ~             ~

Laura Barton was furious over the injuries Clint had sustained. She had swung an ineffectual fist toward Steve’s face, which had been caught and held immobile.

“Your children need you,” he growled out in a low whisper. “I’d tell you be grateful I didn’t do worse because I have when my life has been threatened.”

“He wasn’t---”

“Shut the _fuck_ up.” Whether the tone or the profanity was the element that successfully rendered Laura silent would go unanswered. “Try practicing the goddamned _rigorous honesty_ you’re allegedly teaching Tony in his sobriety. It’d be a nice fucking change.”

Within one heartbeat and the next, Steve disappeared. His words wouldn’t leave Laura’s mind any time soon.

Clint tapped her on the arm. _Underestimate Steve. Bad things happen. My mistake._ His fingers flew, signing the words that were too painful to speak verbally.

Laura was content to remain furious for hours. Later, in the darkness after 3am, she found herself lying awake, reviewing recent events relentlessly within her mind.

 _If it were Clint or the kids, I would burn down heaven and hell without regret,_ she acknowledged to herself. _He didn’t cause this mess. Sokovia did. The Accords did. Everyone demanding all sacrifices and superhuman feats from him and the other Avengers did. Time to grow up, Laura._ Having made the decision to call her sponsor in the morning, she rolled over and finally fell asleep for a few blessed hours.

~             ~             ~             ~

Tony was in a safe house. The security of the safe house was ridiculously easy for Steve to breach undetected.

He couldn’t linger for long, but for a few precious moments, he held the man he loved close and listened to his heart beat.

“Don’t give up,” he whispered softly. “I refuse to lose you, too.”

Tony raised a shaky hand and cupped Steve’s face.

"They thought they were doing the right thing." Tony's voice was a harsh whisper.

"Funny thing -- so did I. Never gets excused when it comes to _me_." Bitterness definitely colored Steve's words. The old status quo was burned to the ground and neither of them would look back. 

A slight whisper of movement was more than enough for Steve to intercept the lackadaisical guard and render him unconscious.   
  


"Stay safe."

"You first."

Steve melted away into the night before the guard roused himself. Tony amused himself by picturing the fury that would cross many faces. He would be interrogated under the guise of concerned questioning and he quite looked forward to running rings around the morons in question.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like this will be more than a one-shot. :)


	3. Invincible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everything turns out beautiful and nothing hurts too much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Miriam Sharpe is the woman that confronted Tony about the death of her son during CA:CW.

 

“$250,000.”

The words melted out of the darkness of Miriam Sharpe’s living room. She jerked her head around but could not see the speaker.

The voice, vaguely familiar, continued. “$250,000. All that was needed for you to help Ross wreck many lives.”

“Who’s there? What are you talking about?” Her questions tripped over each other, voice quavering more than she truly wanted to admit. At that moment, the voice was recognized, and her hands began to shake.

“You already know.” The tone remained remarkably even. “Have to admit, your timing was impeccable and your acting skills superb.”

Her eyes continued to strain, but her erstwhile visitor eluded her sight. “What do you want?”

“A confession would be nice.” The suggestion, casually made, sounded almost like it could have been given from a friend. “A retraction on camera would be even better. You could even donate to a charity for displaced families since the clusterfucker that hired you has destroyed more homes than the Avengers could have ever dreamed. Of course,” and the tone turned bitter, “ _that_ was never the purpose of anything done. As you fucking well know.”

Miriam swallowed hard.

It had been an easy decision, at first. A quick, easy, untraceable way to gain financial security.

The conversation with Stark had gone off without a hitch. The details she had given had held up to cursory scrutiny.

She had forgotten that some people would have a little more time on their hands to do some digging. Things had come full circle and she wouldn't escape the truth this time.

~             ~             ~             ~

“Mr. President, what are your thoughts on the allegations that Secretary Ross used his influence to persecute---“

~             ~             ~             ~

“—will any charges be filed on Mrs. Sharpe for her role ---“

~             ~             ~             ~

“---full exoneration proceedings have occurred. James Buchanan Barnes, now recognized as the longest serving POW in modern history ---“

~             ~             ~             ~

“---NO ONE can unilaterally authorize a sanctioned murder of ANY SINGLE PERSON---“

~             ~             ~             ~

“—but what if these superpowered freaks turn on us---“

“ENOUGH!”

Dead silence filled the press room. Tony Stark, leaning heavily on a cane, glowered at the so-called reporters gathered in his presence.

“There is a much larger threat approaching us than any of you can imagine,” he said levelly. “In case you morons have conveniently forgotten, let me remind you of a little social justice truth: blaming enhanced individuals as a whole for the actions of a few is RACIAL PROFILING. Of course, kumbaya is supposed to be the rule of the day, but we all know how advanced we _aren’t_ in terms of such issues.”

Low murmurs broke out in the room.

“We will do as we always have, which is the best that we _fucking_ well can under whatever circumstances find us." Tony breathed deeply and reminded himself that a semi-decent public image would not go remiss, at least for the time being.

~             ~             ~             ~

“I still say you should have let me punch some of them.” Who knew a grown man could pout like that? 

Tony was positively enchanted. “You’re grumpy when you don’t get to punch people.”

“Grumpy? Is that the best you can do?” A slow smirk crossed Steve's handsome face.

“Still makes you cute, though.”

“I’ll show you cute---“

“I’ll show myself out.” Sam scrambled out of the room.

“I’m with you!” Bucky followed on his heels, laughing. Who knew the punk had it in him?

//end//


End file.
